Toy musical instrument



(No Mode] F. W. GRANDALL. TOY MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

No. 452,835. Patented May 26, 1891.

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C 1/5 CL G a/ WITN ESSES !NVENTOR UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED XV. CRANDALL, OF ELKLAND, PENNSYLVANIA.

TOY MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 452335, dated May 26, 1891.

Application filed September 13, 1890. Serial No. 364.907. (No model.)

.To all whom it may conccrn:

. Be it known that I, FRED W. CRANDALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elkland, in the county of Tioga and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usef-ul Im provements in Toy Musical Instruments; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to toys, and its object is to provide an improved head for resonant musical' instruments-such as banjos, drums, tambourines, and the like-in which a sounding-board is formed by a stretched sheet of elastic material. This is usually composed of parchment, which on account of its cost is not available for the Construction of cheap instruments for children.

My invention aims to provide a cheap but reliable substitute for parchment; and it consists in a head made of paper or a combination of paper and cloth, as hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective viewof the under side of atoybanjo embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 3 is a cross-section.

The frameAfor the head may be composed of four pieces of wood a, tongued and grooved together to form a flat open frane. The corners may be rounded Ott', as shown, or any other desred shape nay be given to the frame. It can, if' desired, be sawed out of a single piece, or be composed of a hoop or a box with walls of some height, with or without a bottom. In fact, the shape and construction of the frame A form no part of my invention,

and the construction shown is selected merely as illustrative. r

To the frane A is secured the neck B. The joint may be stiffened by a batten O, fastened beneath the neck and the side of the frane A.

At the outer end of the neck are inserted the straining-posts D, from which lead strings E of suitable material over the bridge F to the foot of the frame A, where they are Secured.

The bridge rests on the head G, which consists of a sheet of paper or a conbination of paper and cloth stretched tightly over the frame A and fastened thereto by suitable means, preferably by glue. lVhen the head is made of paper, a tough thin grade should be selected, and just before gluing it to the frame it should be Wet. Upon drying it will shrink and form a tight, smooth, resonant head for the instrument. Instead of paper, I'may use paper backed with cloth to give it greater strength.

This mode of Construction oonduces to the production of children s toy banjos and other similar musical nstrunents at a very low cost, and yet such as possess su'fficient musical merit to give instruction, as well as en tertainment. It' at any time the head becomes damaged, it can be replaced at a trifiing cost.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A toy banjo consisting of an open frame A, a neck B, united thereto, a batten O for Stlffening the frame and neck, and a head G of paper, substantially as described.

In testimonywhereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRED W. CRANDALL. Witnesses:

B. L. BALDWIN, L. H. BALDWIN. 

